Navdeep Chandel

Navdeep Chandel is a prolific Indian author known for her vivid and stimulating fiction. Her novels and short stories discover cultural tensions between traditional Indian perspectives on ethics and contemporary understanding of modern life. In her work, Chandel explores the complexity of humanity’s choices and the ways in which life is often not straightforward.

Chandel was born in 1988 in Agra, Uttar Pradesh. She is the daughter of two university professors and attended the University of Delhi and the London School of Economics. Chandel started writing poetry in school and later published her first book, A Rising Sun, when she was only 19.

Chandel’s debut novel, The Magic Tree, won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2017, India’s most prestigious literary award. The magic Tree is set in a small Indian village, which is a world of its own with its own ancient rituals, traditions and rules. The protagonist is an independent woman named Pali, who has to face conflicts between the traditional values of her mother’s people and the modern values that she must learn when moving to a nearby big city.

Other acclaimed novels by Chandel include The Garden of Summer, a visceral tale of two women’s lives in the Himalayan mountain village of Chhatarpur, and Silk Highway, a story about an Indian student's experiences at an American university.

The theme of conflict between ancient customs and modernity is common in Chandel’s works. Often, her characters confront old-fashioned ways of thinking or upbringing, and in doing so, break away from lifelong expectations and find a new freedom. Chandel’s writing is imbued with emotion and passion, creating a vivid experience for the reader. She is also acclaimed for her poetic prose and her creative use of language.

In addition to novels and short stories, Chandel is acclaimed for her children’s books, including The Blossoming Gardens and The Summer Sky. Her works have been translated into numerous languages.

Navdeep Chandel is seen by many as one of the most important contemporary Indian authors. With her thought-provoking and inspiring works, she continues to make an invaluable contribution to the Indian literary scene. Her sharp observations and honest portrayals of India’s socio-economic complexities offer readers valuable insights into Indian culture and the human condition. Through her fiction, Chandel encourages readers to think more deeply about life and discover their own hidden potential.